From September 26th to 30th 2011 several members of GRL Germany had the chance to be part of this years International Urban Art Festival “Sexto Asalto“!

Based in the City of Zaragoza in central Spain, graffiti artists from all over Europe and Spain were invited to do walls in the old-town. Graffiti Research Lab Germany was represented with a talk, two workshops (Creative Code and GML) a hand full of mushroom Throwies, the launch of bombIR 2.0 and of course a night out with blitzTag. Here some pictures from a truly inspiring, busy and VERY sunny week!

... is an open source programming language and environment for people who want to create images, animations, and interactions.

Initially developed to serve as a software sketchbook and to teach fundamentals of computer programming within a visual context, Processing also has evolved into a tool for generating finished professional work. Today, there are tens of thousands of students, artists, designers, researchers, and hobbyists who use Processing for learning, prototyping, and production. In the recent words of Ben Fry, one of the co-creators of the project:

"Processing seeks to ruin the careers of talented designers by tempting them away from their usual tools and into the world of programming and computation. Similarly, the project is designed to turn engineers and computer scientists to less gainful employment as artists and designers."

Part 1 : Everything you always wanted to know about Processing but were afraid to ask | Sat Sep 15th

Prerequisite: No previous programming experience required, just an open mind and an idea of how you would like to use Processing in your work.

The beginning half of this workshop will start in a traditional talk format, and explain the basics of type-based programming, and things like variables, datatypes, methods, and functions (don't be scared, it's easy!!).

The remaining half will be conducted in a open format, with questions, discussion, and hands-on coding in discovering methods and techniques.

On the 22nd of September we made the launch of our new book ”Upcycle it! - a toolkit for creative recycling”. It was presented on the community day of the recycled creativity festival in Open design City.

We made a short presentation about the “Upcycle it!” project and presented the book. Afterwards we had a dinner, with a very very special and tasty dessert - Trash! Are you ready to upcycle on your dinner plate?

We all seemed to be taking it easy - just slightly busy with something nice - making plastic wigs, bags of recycled materials, stenciling, listening to live music or just chilling and talking… on the last saturday - the main day of recycled creativity!

Thank you to everyone who helped out to organize the coziest event of the year! Especially thank you to Wagenplatz Lohmühle for the location! It is such a nice place to be!

The sun was shining and there is not much more to say than that it was a really beautiful day!

We’d like everyone to have a taste of the best of the worst. Party Like It’s €1.999 is an attempt to find some of the best, really really affordable, wines in all of Germany. With frequent trips to Kaufland, et al, we’ve managed to acquire a fair sample, and so in defiance of all known wine etiquette, we’ve decided to host a series of rather uncouth and uncultured wine tastings.

Imaginative assessments, ad hoc scoring systems, quaffing and general enjoyment are all highly encouraged. €2 donation for the wine.

Pilz throwies are small textile objects with magnets which can be thrown onto ferro metallic surfaces in and out of reach. This workshop will give you the chance to learn how to sew your own mushroom-shaped yarn throwie. Plant it public space as a soft graffiti intervention!

Light Rider & blitzTag | Saturday Oct 1 | 20:00 + | Moritzplatz area

GRL Germany will bring our mobile projection unit, the Light Rider, to Makerplatz, and light up the walls with laser-based digital graffiti. Connecting the various spaces of the Makerplatz and People in Beta Festival, we’ll provide interactive, light-based options to transform these spaces, allowing the public to use the city as their canvas.

Bring Craft Knives, Scissors and something to get high (i mean chairs and ladders).

Long Version:...For the last months the faces of politicians have haunted the streets, they don't tell us what they stand for or what they represent. They just want our brains to absorb their names.

At the same time, birds, beautiful birds, who bring us song and color to the city, struggle to find a home safe from cats and predators.

But all is not lost. One shared simple action can allow us to reclaim our minds from the blight of political campaigns, and provide our feathered co-inhabitants with a new space to live and thrive.

On the 20th September, at 9pm we will turn the campaign posters into Birdhouses. We hope you can join us or create your own action near you.

Meet us at Open Design City, 19 - 20 Prinzessinenstrasse at 8.30 or set up your own by copying this text and setting your own time, then email me and give details of your meeting point so we can create a map. Bring scissors, craft knives, some pencils and chairs (or ladders if you want to be fancy) if you have them.